Former school counselor sentenced for exploitation

A former middle counselor in Meridian has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of sexual exploitation of minors.

Mark Alan Saltzer entered his plea Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Bush. Saltzer told the judge he chatted online with teenage boys and persuaded them to engage in sexual acts which he recorded and shared with others online.

Investigators found Saltzer, who is 45, had been a member of a private Internet group that traded pornography for over a decade.

Saltzer was arrested last August and has been jailed on $1 million bail since then. A 17-year-old boy who was at Saltzer's house said Saltzer had sexually abused him.

Saltzer is scheduled to appear in District Court in Boise on Aug. 20, where he faces 10 state charges of sexual exploitation of a child.